Hunter Symphony

Biography

As early as 1923, Hunter’s Commencement ceremonies included performances by the Hunter Symphony, led by Hunter student (later alumna), violinist and conductor Miss Flora Rubin. Reconstituted as The Hunter Symphony in the 1960s by Prof. Clayton Westermann, who directed the ensemble until 2002, this is the orchestra’s eighth year with Reuben Blundell, who joined the Hunter faculty in 2009 while concluding his doctorate from the Eastman School of Music.

Hunter College, on the Upper East Side, is one of the senior colleges of the City University of New York (CUNY), and is led by President Jennifer J. Raab. Founded in 1855 by Irish immigrant Joseph Hunter as a Normal School for young women, it become co-educational after the GI Bill, and now serves approximately 23,000 students from across New York’s five boroughs and around the world.

The Hunter Symphony consists primarily of Hunter students, drawn from Hunter College’s many majors. It also includes a handful of valued community members and outstanding professional musicians. It performs four concerts each year, usually in Hunter’s 2000-seat Assembly Hall. The orchestra has collaborated with a wide variety of artists and scholars, and even a hip-hop dance group visiting from Iraq for the US State Department. Please check our website for more information, and “like” our Facebook page.